Safety of mRNA vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna – Statement by Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Forum of Sri Lanka

Our respected senior virologist in Sri Lanka, Professor Tissa Vitharana has written an article, on ‘Positioning science technology and research to meet new normal industrial challenges’. In paragraph 9 of this article, he has said that “I consider the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as unsafe as they are based on the use of mRNA, which are composed of viable genetic material alone. This type of vaccine has not been used in humans before and it is uncertain how their mRNA will act once they combine with genetic material in our bodies.”

With due respect to him, the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Forum of Sri Lanka would like to clarify its position with regards to this statement. This statement could create confusion among the public and could jeopardise the government’s efforts to vaccinate adults and children, in order to provide protection against this deadly virus. It is the decision by the global experts on vaccinology to give Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for children taking in to account of their safety and efficacy compared to all the other candidate vaccines. Many of our colleagues have already witnessed parents refusing to get the vaccine given to their children, after reading this article published in two national papers.

The Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Forum of Sri Lanka assures the safety of these vaccines for the use of humans including children.

First of all mRNA is not the genome. A genome consists of DNAs. mRNA is not the same as DNA, and it can’t combine with our DNA to change our genetic code. It is also relatively fragile, and once it is introduced in to the cell, it will be degraded within 72 hours. RNA can be transformed to DNA by one virus group called retroviruses. Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus. They will do so by producing a special enzyme called reverse transcriptase. No other virus has that ability. Human cells do not have reverse transcriptase, and therefore, cannot convert the vaccine mRNA to DNA.

In all RNA viral diseases, the virus once it enters the host cell releases mRNA into the cell. Viral mRNA then utilizes host cell processes to produce their proteins. These proteins are then assembled together to form many daughter viruses, which in turn infects new cells. This is how viruses infect hosts. The process will go on until body defense mechanisms overcome the virus. This relationship had been there for many millions of years, even before the existence of man. But there had never been any viral RNA material incorporated into host DNA other than in retroviral infections.

Although mRNA vaccines are a relatively new technology, they are based on the same ancient premise: delivering mRNA into our cells, which they will use to manufacture a viral protein. But in this technology, it delivers only a small fragment of RNA which is only encoding spike protein of the virus. As such it does not produce anything other than the spike protein. It does not produce the virus, but only produces one single protein. The RNA fragment will be there inside the cell for less than 72 hours.

The other important consideration is that the mRNA used in vaccine making is a synthetic mRNA, not the exact viral mRNA.

In the US, an ant-vaccine group went to Supreme Court against mRNA vaccines. This group was headed by the lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of ex-president John F. Kennedy, against a group of scientists including Bill Gates, the infectious diseases specialist and White House advisor Anthony Fauci and many others. The US Supreme Court dismissed the case saying that it is baseless as they could not prove it scientifically. Yet this anti-vaccine group went globally saying that these vaccines will change your DNA.

Our sincere advice to the public is that this is a false statement and that there is no scientific evidence what so ever to prove that any RNA material from a vaccine is incorporated in to our genome.

Globally, there is a rush to make vaccines and other treatment modules using this mRNA technology instead of traditional vaccine manufacturing methods, as it provides very robustly effective, safe vaccines. The manufacturing process is also very cheap and quick. There is ongoing research to produce vaccines using mRNA technology against cytomegalovirus (CMV), human metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, rabies, zika and vaccines against many cancers.

This paradigm shift of vaccine research is a solid proof of safety.

Dr. H T Wickremasinghe

Consultant Paediatrician

President

Vaccine and Infectious Disease Forum of Sri Lanka